The further east you drive, the thinner the fog becomes, but the sky is still gloomy, as if sunlight cannot penetrate this sea area. )]〉〉〉]>??}]
The surrounding reefs are also getting higher and higher, gradually turning into thick stone pillars. For some reason, the water level is clearly falling, the boat is still very stable, and even the waves of the sea are reduced, as calm as a windless lake.
"Why don't you wait for the sea to completely recede before entering the shadowy sea?" Tilly asked inexplicably, "After all the rocks are exposed like this, you don't have to be afraid of hitting the rocks."
"Because we won't be able to see the ghostly red river after the tide ebbs, and it's the only way to guide explorers to the ruins," Lei Ting explained, "These pillar-like islands are not fixed, and every tide ebbs and flows. , the position of the islands will change. Plus most of the markers will be swallowed by the sea, so it can't be used to locate the direction."
"Ghost... Red River?" she repeated.
"That's right. Look, this is it." Thunder whistled, pointing in the direction of the bow.
The witches looked in the direction he pointed, and saw a few red figures appearing in the dark green sea water, and they flashed by, like phantoms. But soon, two or three red shadows floated past, and this time Ashes saw the target clearly, and it was actually an orange-red fish.
"This is... a fish?"
"The red-scaled fish unique to the Shadow Islands," Lei Ting said while rubbing his chin, "You'll see the true face of the Ghost Shadow Red River later."
Gradually, there were more and more fish, and they stopped appearing in twos and threes. Instead, they gathered into a group and swam in the direction of the stern of the boat. Looking far ahead, Ashes was shocked by what he saw. The more fish merged into this torrent, a thick dark red line appeared in the sea water. The sailboat was clearly following this red line, and schools of fish passed through the bottom of the boat, and every now and then a thumping sound could be heard.
It turned out that, she suddenly realized that this is a strange river that does not exist in the Ghost Shadow Red River! As the boats continued to move forward, the dense school of fish had expanded into a channel that could accommodate several boats in parallel. The dark green water seemed to disappear, and the sailboat seemed to be driving on the school of fish. If the two directions were not exactly opposite, she There is even the illusion that the boat is being carried by fish.
"Why?" Tilly asked in surprise.
Ash also wanted to ask this question. In Greycastle or other kingdoms, it was absolutely impossible to see such a scene shrouded in fog, gloomy sky, bizarre boulders, and a "river" composed of red scale fish. For the first time, she was shocked by the wonder of the sea.
"Because of the main island," Lei Ting said, "it's like a triangular minaret with a huge hole running through the tower. These red scale fish like to lay eggs and reproduce in the hole. When the tide goes out, the hole becomes It will surface, and the roosting fish will always be the first to feel the change in the water level and swarm out. So as long as we follow the Ghost Red River, we can reach the main shadow island."
"Lord Thunder, there is a huge obstacle ahead! It looks like a big mountain!" the lookout shouted.
"Looks like we're almost there," he shook out his pipe. "Ladies, welcome to the Shadow Isles."
After a while, Ashes also saw the appearance of the main island. As Lei Ting said, it was like a piece of triangles. It was wide at the bottom and narrow at the top. The surface looked very flat at first glance, and it didn't look like a natural creation at all. But to say that the entire tower was cut out by the population would be too amazing. The exposed tower is almost the size of half a city, and the hollow in the middle is enough to accommodate the tower of the Hermes Church.
The sea is still receding, the water at the top of the giant cave is pouring down like a waterfall, and the submerged part below is completely covered by fish, dyeing the sea area within the field of vision into a bright red, and the ashes can't help thinking to themselves, living in the cave. There are probably as many as tens of millions of red scale fish.
It was not until the sky darkened that the sea water completely retreated to the bottom of the cave. Taking this opportunity, Lei Ting ordered the sailors to stop and dock, and connected them to the copper stakes at the entrance of the cave with thick hemp ropes. Standing on the edge of the giant hole, you can see from a distance that the light entering from both ends of the through hole on the opposite side can only illuminate a small area, and the center of the hole is almost pitch black, which makes people feel inexplicably depressed.
"Are these piles from the last time you came?" Ashes asked.
"No," Lei Ting shook his head, "the copper stakes already existed when I first came here. They should have been built by the owner of the ruins."
"The ruins... where are they?"
He smiled and pointed upwards, "Just above our heads, we are already standing at the entrance to the ruins."
…
The next journey can only be described as incredible. The witches followed Lei Ting and his group, entered from a stone gate at the bottom of the giant cave, and circled up step by step along the stone steps where the water was gurgling. Although everyone was holding torches, the throbbing flames were weak and insignificant compared to this stairway with no end in sight.
Walking in the abyss-like darkness, Tilly clung to Ash's arm, completely losing her usual calmness.
This is the princess she knows well, Ashes thought. When she was in the palace, the fifth princess who always had her own ideas and was confident in the face of any difficulties, the biggest weakness was fear of the dark. Even in bed at night, candles are lit in the room. When escaping from the palace, if there is no condition to do so, he will accompany her to sleep by his side.
Walking in the damp and dark minaret, Ash's mood became a lot more happy.
There were no evil beasts along the way, and there was no mechanism to hinder the invaders. The only problem is that the long climb exhausted most of the group's physical strength, and everyone's movements became slower and slower. When the stone steps finally came to an end, the team couldn't help but burst into cheers.
The final level of the ruins is not a stone door, but is made of metal, which reflects brightly under the light of the torches. Lei Ting pushed the door with both hands, and the thick door made a harsh rubbing sound and slowly opened.
With a sword in one hand, Ashes entered the room first, and after looking around to confirm that there was no danger, did Tilly and the other witches step into the room.
With the torches hanging on the surrounding walls, a wide hall appeared in front of everyone, although it was wide, it seemed empty, and it could be swept away at a glance, and there was nothing worth pondering.
"This is the ruins?" She rubbed the stone table top soaked in water, "except for some stone tables and stools, there is nothing here."
"There's really not much left," Lei Ting nodded. "It's been sleeping on the bottom of the sea for too long, and it's hard to preserve anything except stones. I also told Her Royal Highness Tilly, but she insisted on seeing it in person."
"What about those red stones?" Tilly asked, "Where did you find them?"
"It was on the ground. It was scattered all over the place at that time, probably dozens of them."
However, there is nothing left now. Ashes looked down at the slippery ground where algae had grown. Thunder was not the only explorer who arrived here. It was strange that they could find magic stones after taking turns.
But Tilly was still full of interest. Holding the torches, she carefully looked at every corner of the hall, especially the dark places. She would also ask the sailors to add a few more torches. Moriel summoned the magical servants, spread them out on the ground, and used them as cushions to rest, while Ashes followed Tilly, watching her touch the walls.
"Hey," suddenly, the fifth princess stopped, "what is this?"
Ashes followed her gaze, and saw a faint reflection of fire on the wall covered with a piece of green moss.
Tilly stretched out her hand and tore off the green moss, only to see a gem half buried in the stone wall exposed. It was also bright red, as crystal clear as a magic stone, prism-shaped, about the thickness of an arm, reading a book ( ) but around Gold filaments are embedded, like a card slot to hold it in. Even after being immersed in seawater for so long, the gold threads that wrap around the stone are still as clean as new.
Tilly tried to pull it out, but the gem didn't move.
"Let me do it," Ashes said.
The Fifth Princess shook her head, as if thinking about something, then she put her hand on the prism and closed her eyes.
Suddenly, a ray of light flashed in the center of the prism, and the ashes thought it was dazzling, but soon there was a rumbling echo from behind the wall, as if some mechanism had been touched, and it soon spread to the entire hall. There was a crunching sound all over the stone walls, and a soft white light appeared from the walls, and even the ceiling above my head lit up.
The sailors stood up in panic and drew their weapons, but they didn't know which side to defend, and in the end they could only close together back-to-back and gather around Moriel's magical servants.
However, no monster rushed out.
When the sound returned to calm, the hall was already brightly lit. (.)